Kids love animals. They love to watch them, play with them, and read about them. Capitalising on this interest is a no-brainer for parents and teachers. Is there an animal sanctuary nearby? How long since you've taken a walk outside to look for critters? Read more at The Book Chook.

Today is World Animal Day. To celebrate, why not encourage kids to think of the animals you care about, spend time with your pets, or maybe visit a zoo or a farm. You could take your art tools outside and capture a portrait of an animal, grab a photo, or write a description. As a follow-up, your kids might like to visit Talking Pet, where they can upload a photo of their pet, or select one from the site, and create a message for it to deliver. Read more at The Book Chook.

Encouraging kids' interest in small creatures is not difficult. Most children have a fascination for animals large and small. That fascination is often accompanied by questions, so here are some resources that might help you explore and share knowledge with your kids. Read more at The Book Chook.

Discover MWorld is an Australian app for kids that provides a way in to some parts of the Australian Curriculum through exploration and interaction for kids of certain themes within its titles. Many of these relate to animals and animal behaviour. Read more at The Book Chook.

Ever noticed how animal characters are perennial favourites with kids? Here's a list of 2014 published children's picture books with my mini-reviews to whet your appetite, and below them, some of my recent reviews of more books with fun animal characters. Read more at The Book Chook.

Here's a new creative prompt in my series that hopes to inspire some creativity in your kids. You can find more creative prompts for children in my list, embedded below.

Observe an animal really carefully but from a safe distance.
Jot down all the details you notice about it, sketch it, take photos or all three. What does the animal feel like/look like/sound like/smell like? What do those things remind you of? How does it move? Combine your ideas into a poem.

Choose an animal character to write or tell a story about.

Let your imagination run riot and invent your own animal. You might like to draw or design it first. Questions to think about: what sort of habitat does your animal live in and how does that affect it? what family of animals does yours belong to? what is its head/body/legs like? what does it eat? what preys on it? how does it defend itself from predators?

The main purpose of the site is to create the ultimate multimedia archive of the world's endangered animals. So important, because over 17,000 animals, plants and fungi are currently threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources' Red List of Threatened Species.

The images and video are excellent quality, and available for internal educational use ie you can't publish them on your website etc, but can use them in a classroom.

Each of us is the keeper of a huge zoo. And the zoo is ourselves. If your kids are fascinated by all things creepy, have a chat to your local librarian and borrow some books about the human body - in particular, the animals who live upon and inside us. Read more at The Book Chook.

One subject most kids enjoy learning about is animals. Picture books with animal characters are firm favorites, and non-fiction books for children about animals are very popular. Kids also love to observe animals, in real life visits to the zoo perhaps, or via some of the well-made documentaries available. Read more at Scholastic Parents Learning Toolkit.

Birds in Backyards is a research, education and conservation program focusing on the birds that live where people live. Get involved by becoming a member and taking part in our online surveys. Learn how you can create bird-friendly spaces in your garden and local community. Find out more about Australian birds and their habitats.